A Model of the Real Numbers

Extract

The model of the real numbers described below was suggested by the fact that each irrational number ρ determines a linear ordering of J², the additive group of ordered pairs of integers. To obtain the ordering, we define (m, n) ≤ (m', n') to mean that (m'- m)ρ ≤ n' - n. This order is invariant with group translations, and hence is called a "group linear ordering". It is completely determined by the set of its "positive" elements, in this case, by the set of integer pairs (m, n) such that (0, 0) ≤ (m, n), or, equivalently, mρ < n. The law of trichotomy for linear orderings dictates that only the zero of an ordered group can be both positive and negative.